TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — The Freedom Park pool and splash pad in Tucson are temporarily closed after staff found broken glass in the water, a result of what officials are calling vandalism.
City Aquatics Administrator TJ Johnson says the city suspects someone threw a glass bottle over the gated fence, shattering it on the pool deck before shards dropped to the bottom of the pool.
"If we allow people to swim in it, knowing that there was glass in it and there's floating shards of glass, they could ingest it or it could go in their eye or they could step on it," Johnson said.
The closure affects both the pool and the splash pad at Freedom Park, which Johnson says are used by many families.
"This is a busy pool and the splash pad's busy, I mean, it's seeing 1,000 people a week," Johnson said.
Once broken glass is found in a pool, Johnson tells me the process to reopen it is far more involved than simply picking up the glass.
"The protocol is to drain the entire pool," Johnson said.
After the pool is drained, crews walk the entire basin before refilling it.
"We'll literally walk the pool looking for glass with brooms and brush out whatever we find and get the glass out," Johnson said.
After hundreds of thousands of gallons of water are drained and the pool is refilled, crews must add chemicals, balance the water and make sure it is safe before reopening. The entire process can take four to five days.
Johnson says closures like this pull resources away from other pools that need attention ahead of the summer season.
"It's manpower, it's chemicals, and water is a precious resource, especially in the desert Southwest," Johnson said.
This is not the first time this year a Tucson city pool has closed due to vandalism. Johnson says broken glass was also found at both Oury and Udall Park pools, forcing similar shutdowns.
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Johnson is urging the public to report any suspicious activity immediately.
"If you see something going on, call 911 and report it immediately and as soon as you can so we can help slow this down a little bit or stop it," Johnson said.
The Freedom Park pool is expected to reopen this weekend.
You can find city pool and splash pad schedules here.
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Jacqueline Aguilar is a multimedia journalist at KGUN 9. Born and raised in Yuma, AZ., she is no stranger to the unforgiving Arizona heat. Now this U of A wildcat is excited to be back in Tucson and is looking forward to involving herself in the community. Share your story ideas with Jacqueline by emailing jacqueline.aguilar@kgun9.com or connecting on Facebook, Instagram or X.
